Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat (Arabic: محمد أنور السادات‎
Muḥammad Anwar as-Sādāt, Egyptian [muħæmmæd ˈʔɑnwɑɾ
essæˈdæːt]; 25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was the
third President of Egypt, serving from 15 October 1970 until his
assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 October 1981. Sadat
was a senior member of the Free Officers who overthrew King Farouk in
the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and a close confidant of President
Gamal Abdel Nasser, under whom he served as Vice President twice and
whom he succeeded as President in 1970.
In his eleven years as president, he changed Egypt's trajectory,
departing from many of the political and economic tenets of Nasserism,
re-instituting a multi-party system, and launching the Infitah
economic policy. As President, he led
EgyptEgypt in the
Yom Kippur WarYom Kippur War of
1973 to regain Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, which
IsraelIsrael had occupied
since the
Six-Day WarSix-Day War of 1967, making him a hero in
EgyptEgypt and, for a
time, the wider Arab World. Afterwards, he engaged in negotiations
with Israel, culminating in the Egypt–
IsraelIsrael Peace Treaty; this won
him and Israeli Prime Minister
Menachem BeginMenachem Begin the Nobel Peace Prize,
making Sadat the first Muslim Nobel laureate. Though reaction to the
treaty—which resulted in the return of Sinai to Egypt—was
generally favorable among Egyptians,[2] it was rejected by the
country's Muslim Brotherhood, which felt Sadat had abandoned efforts
to ensure a Palestinian state.[2] With the exception of Sudan, the
Arab world and the
Palestine Liberation OrganizationPalestine Liberation Organization (PLO) strongly
opposed Sadat's efforts to make a separate peace with
IsraelIsrael without
prior consultations with the Arab states.[2] His refusal to reconcile
with them over the Palestinian issue resulted in
EgyptEgypt being suspended
from the
Arab LeagueArab League from 1979 to 1989.[3][4][5][6] The peace treaty
was also one of the primary factors that led to his assassination.

Contents

1 Early life and revolutionary activities
2 During Nasser's presidency
3 Presidency

Early life and revolutionary activities
Anwar SadatAnwar Sadat was born on 25 December 1918 in Mit Abu El Kom, Monufia,
EgyptEgypt to a poor Nubian family, one of 13 brothers and sisters.[7] One
of his brothers, Atef Sadat, later became a pilot and was killed in
action during the October War of 1973.[8] His father, Anwar Mohammed
El Sadat was an Upper Egyptian, and his mother, Sit Al-Berain, was
Sudanese from her father.[9][10]
He graduated from the Royal Military Academy in
CairoCairo in 1938[11] and
was appointed to the Signal Corps. He entered the army as a second
lieutenant and was posted to
SudanSudan (
EgyptEgypt and
SudanSudan were one country
at the time). There, he met Gamal Abdel Nasser, and along with several
other junior officers they formed the secret Free Officers,[12] a
movement committed to freeing
EgyptEgypt and
SudanSudan from British domination,
and royal corruption.
During the
Second World WarSecond World War he was imprisoned by the British for his
efforts to obtain help from the
Axis PowersAxis Powers in expelling the occupying
British forces.
Anwar SadatAnwar Sadat was active in many political movements,
including the Muslim Brotherhood, the fascist Young Egypt, the
pro-palace Iron Guard of Egypt, and the secret military group called
the Free Officers.[13] Along with his fellow Free Officers, Sadat
participated in the military coup that launched the Egyptian
Revolution of 1952, which overthrew King Farouk on 23 July of that
year. Sadat was assigned to announce the news of the revolution to the
Egyptian people over the radio networks.
During Nasser's presidency

Top Egyptian leaders in Alexandria, 1968. From left to right: Gamal
Abdel Nasser, Sadat,
Ali SabriAli Sabri and Hussein el-Shafei

During the presidency of Gamal Abdel Nasser, Sadat was appointed
minister of State in 1954. He was also appointed editor of the newly
founded daily Al Gomhuria.[14] In 1959, he assumed the position of
Secretary to the National Union. Sadat was the President of the
National Assembly (1960–1968) and then vice president and member of
the presidential council in 1964. He was reappointed as vice president
again in December 1969.
Presidency
Further information: History of
EgyptEgypt under Anwar Sadat
Some of the major events of Sadat's presidency were his "Corrective
Revolution" to consolidate power, the break with Egypt's long-time
ally and aid-giver the USSR, the
1973 October War1973 October War with Israel, the
Camp DavidCamp David peace treaty with Israel, the "opening up" (or Infitah) of
Egypt's economy, and lastly his assassination in 1981.

Play media

1972 Echo newsreel about the early Sadat years

Sadat succeeded Nasser as president after the latter's death in
October 1970.[15] Sadat's presidency was widely expected to be
short-lived.[16] Viewing him as having been little more than a puppet
of the former president, Nasser's supporters in government settled on
Sadat as someone they could manipulate easily. Sadat surprised
everyone with a series of astute political moves by which he was able
to retain the presidency and emerge as a leader in his own right.[17]
On 15 May 1971,[18] Sadat announced his Corrective Revolution, purging
the government, political and security establishments of the most
ardent Nasserists. Sadat encouraged the emergence of an Islamist
movement, which had been suppressed by Nasser. Believing Islamists to
be socially conservative he gave them "considerable cultural and
ideological autonomy" in exchange for political support.[19]
In 1971, three years into the
War of AttritionWar of Attrition in the
Suez CanalSuez Canal zone,
Sadat endorsed in a letter the peace proposals of UN negotiator Gunnar
Jarring, which seemed to lead to a full peace with
IsraelIsrael on the basis
of Israel's withdrawal to its pre-war borders. This peace initiative
failed as neither
IsraelIsrael nor the
United StatesUnited States of America accepted the
terms as discussed then.
Corrective Revolution
Main article: Corrective Revolution (Egypt)
Shortly after taking office, Sadat shocked many Egyptians by
dismissing and imprisoning two of the most powerful figures in the
regime, Vice President Ali Sabri, who had close ties with Soviet
officials, and Sharawy Gomaa, the Interior Minister, who controlled
the secret police.[16] Sadat's rising popularity would accelerate
after he cut back the powers of the hated secret police,[16] expelled
Soviet military from the country and reformed the Egyptian army for a
renewed confrontation with Israel.[16]
Yom Kippur War
Main article: Yom Kippur War
On 6 October 1973, in conjunction with
Hafez al-AssadHafez al-Assad of Syria, Sadat
launched the October War, also known as the
Yom Kippur WarYom Kippur War (and less
commonly as the Ramadan War), a surprise attack against the Israeli
forces occupying the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula[20], and the Syrian
Golan HeightsGolan Heights in an attempt to retake these respective Egyptian and
Syrian territories that had been occupied by
IsraelIsrael since the Six Day
War six years earlier. The Egyptian and Syrian performance in the
initial stages of the war astonished both Israel, and the Arab World.
The most striking achievement (Operation Badr, also known as The
Crossing) was the Egyptian military's advance approximately 15 km
into the occupied
Sinai PeninsulaSinai Peninsula after penetrating and largely
destroying the Bar Lev Line. This line was popularly thought to have
been an impregnable defensive chain.
As the war progressed, three divisions of the Israeli army led by
General
Ariel SharonAriel Sharon had crossed the Suez Canal, trying to encircle
first the Egyptian Second Army. Although this failed, prompted by an
agreement between the
United StatesUnited States of America and the Soviet Union,
the
United Nations Security CouncilUnited Nations Security Council passed Resolution 338 on 22
October 1973, calling for an immediate ceasefire.[21] Although agreed
upon, the ceasefire was immediately broken.[22] Alexei Kosygin, the
Chairman of the
USSRUSSR Council of Ministers, cancelled an official
meeting with Danish Prime Minister
Anker JørgensenAnker Jørgensen to travel to Egypt
where he tried to persuade Sadat to sign a peace treaty. During
Kosygin's two-day long stay it is unknown if he and Sadat ever met in
person.[23] The Israeli military then continued their drive to
encircle the Egyptian army. The encirclement was completed on 24
October, three days after the ceasefire was broken. This development
prompted superpower tension, but a second ceasefire was imposed
cooperatively on 25 October to end the war. At the conclusion of
hostilities, Israeli forces were 40 kilometres (25 mi) from
DamascusDamascus and 101 kilometres (63 mi) from Cairo.[24]
Peace with Israel
Main article: Egyptian–Israeli Peace Treaty

The initial Egyptian and Syrian victories in the war restored popular
morale throughout
EgyptEgypt and the
Arab WorldArab World and, for many years after,
Sadat was known as the "Hero of the Crossing".
IsraelIsrael recognized Egypt
as a formidable foe, and Egypt's renewed political significance
eventually led to regaining and reopening the
Suez CanalSuez Canal through the
peace process. His new peace policy led to the conclusion of two
agreements on disengagement of forces with the Israeli government. The
first of these agreements was signed on 18 January 1974, and the
second on 4 September 1975.
One major aspect of Sadat's peace policy was to gain some religious
support for his efforts. Already during his visit to the US in
October–November 1975, he invited Evangelical pastor Billy Graham
for an official visit, which was held a few days after Sadat's
visit.[26] In addition to cultivating relations with Evangelical
Christians in the US, he also built some cooperation with the Vatican.
On 8 April 1976, he visited the Vatican for the first time, and got a
message of support from
Pope Paul VIPope Paul VI regarding achieving peace with
Israel, to include a just solution to the Palestinian issue.[27]
Sadat, on his part, extended to the Pope a public invitation to visit
Cairo.[28]
Sadat also used the media to promote his purposes. In an interview he
gave to the Lebanese paper El Hawadeth in early February 1976, he
claimed he had secret commitment from the US government to put
pressure on the Israeli government for a major withdrawal in Sinai and
the Golan Heights.[29] This statement caused some concern to the
Israeli government, but Kissinger denied such a promise was ever
made.[30]
In January 1977, a series of 'Bread Riots' protested Sadat's economic
liberalization and specifically a government decree lifting price
controls on basic necessities like bread. The riots lasted for two
days and included hundreds of thousands in Cairo. 120 buses and
hundreds of buildings were destroyed in
CairoCairo alone.[31] The riots
ended with the deployment of the army and the re-institution of the
subsidies/price controls.[32][33] During this time, Sadat was also
taking a new approach towards improving relations with the West.[16]
The
United StatesUnited States and the
Soviet UnionSoviet Union agreed on 1 October 1977, on
principles to govern a Geneva conference on the Middle East.[16] Syria
continued to resist such a conference.[16] Not wanting either
SyriaSyria or
the
Soviet UnionSoviet Union to influence the peace process, Sadat decided to take
more progressive stance towards building a comprehensive peace
agreement with Israel.[16]
On 19 November 1977, Sadat became the first Arab leader to visit
IsraelIsrael officially when he met with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem
Begin, and spoke before the
KnessetKnesset in
JerusalemJerusalem about his views on
how to achieve a comprehensive peace to the Arab–Israeli conflict,
which included the full implementation of UN Resolutions 242 and 338.
He said during his visit that he hopes "that we can keep the momentum
in Geneva, and may God guide the steps of Premier Begin and Knesset,
because there is a great need for hard and drastic decision".[34]

Let us put an end to wars, let us reshape life on the solid basis of
equity and truth. And it is this call, which reflected the will of the
Egyptian people, of the great majority of the Arab and Israeli
peoples, and indeed of millions of men, women, and children around the
world that you are today honoring. And these hundreds of millions will
judge to what extent every responsible leader in the Middle East has
responded to the hopes of mankind.[35]

The main features of the agreement were the mutual recognition of each
country by the other, the cessation of the state of war that had
existed since the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and the complete withdrawal
by
IsraelIsrael of its armed forces and civilians from the rest of the Sinai
Peninsula, which
IsraelIsrael had captured during the 1967 Six-Day War.
The agreement also provided for the free passage of Israeli ships
through the
Suez CanalSuez Canal and recognition of the
Strait of TiranStrait of Tiran and the
Gulf of AqabaGulf of Aqaba as international waterways. The agreement notably made
EgyptEgypt the first Arab country to officially recognize Israel. The peace
agreement between
EgyptEgypt and
IsraelIsrael has remained in effect since the
treaty was signed.
The treaty was extremely unpopular in most of the
Arab WorldArab World and the
wider Muslim World.[36] His predecessor Nasser had made
EgyptEgypt an icon
of Arab nationalism, an ideology that appeared to be sidelined by an
Egyptian orientation following the 1973 war (see Egypt). The
neighboring Arab countries believed that in signing the accords, Sadat
had put Egypt's interests ahead of Arab unity, betraying Nasser's
pan-Arabism, and destroyed the vision of a united "Arab front" for the
support of the Palestinians against the "Zionist Entity". However,
Sadat decided early on that peace is the solution.[16][37] Sadat's
shift towards a strategic relationship with the US was also seen as a
betrayal by many Arabs. In the
United StatesUnited States his peace moves gained
him popularity among some Evangelical circles. He was awarded the
Prince of Peace Award by Pat Robertson.[38]
In 1979, the
Arab LeagueArab League suspended
EgyptEgypt in the wake of the
Egyptian–
IsraelIsrael peace agreement, and the League moved its
headquarters from
CairoCairo to Tunis.
Arab LeagueArab League member states believed
in the elimination of the "Zionist Entity" and
IsraelIsrael at that time. It
was not until 1989 that the League re-admitted
EgyptEgypt as a member, and
returned its headquarters to Cairo. As part of the peace deal, Israel
withdrew from the
Sinai PeninsulaSinai Peninsula in phases, completing its withdrawal
from the entire territory except the town of Taba by 25 April 1982
(withdrawal from which did not occur until 1989).[16] The improved
relations
EgyptEgypt gained with the West through the
Camp DavidCamp David Accords
soon gave the country resilient economic growth.[16] By 1980, however,
Egypt's strained relations with the
Arab WorldArab World would result in a
period of rapid inflation.[16]
Relationship with Mohammad Reza
ShahShah Pahlavi of Iran

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The relationship between Iran and
EgyptEgypt had fallen into open hostility
during Gamal Abdel Nasser's presidency. Following his death in 1970,
President Sadat turned this around quickly into an open and close
friendship.
In 1971, Sadat addressed the
Iranian parliamentIranian parliament in
TehranTehran in fluent
Persian, describing the 2,500-year-old historic connection between the
two lands.
Overnight, the Egyptian and Iranian governments were turned from
bitter enemies into fast friends. The relationship between
CairoCairo and
TehranTehran became so friendly that the
ShahShah of Iran, Mohammad Reza
Pahlavi, called Sadat his "dear brother".
After the 1973 war with Israel, Iran assumed a leading role in
cleaning up and reactivating the blocked
Suez CanalSuez Canal with heavy
investment. The country also facilitated the withdrawal of
IsraelIsrael from
the occupied
Sinai PeninsulaSinai Peninsula by promising to substitute the loss of
the oil to the Israelis with free Iranian oil if they withdrew from
the Egyptian oil wells in western Sinai.
All these added more to the personal friendship between Sadat and the
ShahShah of Iran. (The Shah's first wife was Princess Fawzia of Egypt. She
was the eldest daughter of Sultan
Fuad IFuad I of
EgyptEgypt and
SudanSudan (later
King Fuad I) and his second wife Nazli Sabri.)
After his overthrow, the deposed
ShahShah spent the last months of his
life in exile in Egypt. When the
ShahShah died, Sadat ordered that he be
given a state funeral and be interred at the
Al-Rifa'i MosqueAl-Rifa'i Mosque in
Cairo, the resting place of Egyptian
KhediveKhedive Isma'il Pasha, his mother
Khushyar Hanim, and numerous other members of the royal family of
EgyptEgypt and Sudan.[39]
Assassination
Main article: Assassination of Anwar Sadat
The last months of Sadat's presidency were marked by internal
uprising.[16] Sadat dismissed allegations that the rioting was incited
by domestic issues, believing that the
Soviet UnionSoviet Union was recruiting its
regional allies in Libya and
SyriaSyria to incite an uprising that would
eventually force him out of power.[16] Following a failed military
coup in June 1981, Sadat ordered a major crackdown that resulted in
the arrest of numerous opposition figures.[16] Though Sadat still
maintained high levels of popularity in Egypt,[16] it has been said
that he was assassinated "at the peak" of his unpopularity.[40]
Earlier in his presidency, Islamists had benefited from the
'rectification revolution' and the release from prison of activists
jailed under Nasser[18] but Sadat's Sinai treaty with
IsraelIsrael enraged
Islamists, particularly the radical Egyptian Islamic Jihad. According
to interviews and information gathered by journalist Lawrence Wright,
the group was recruiting military officers and accumulating weapons,
waiting for the right moment to launch "a complete overthrow of the
existing order" in Egypt. Chief strategist of El-Jihad was Abbud
al-Zumar, a colonel in the military intelligence whose "plan was to
kill the main leaders of the country, capture the headquarters of the
army and State Security, the telephone exchange building, and of
course the radio and television building, where news of the Islamic
revolution would then be broadcast, unleashing—he expected—a
popular uprising against secular authority all over the country".[41]
In February 1981, Egyptian authorities were alerted to El-Jihad's plan
by the arrest of an operative carrying crucial information. In
September, Sadat ordered a highly unpopular roundup of more than 1,500
people, including many Jihad members, but also the Coptic Pope and
other Coptic clergy, intellectuals and activists of all ideological
stripes.[42] All non-government press was banned as well.[43] The
round up missed a Jihad cell in the military led by Lieutenant Khalid
Islambouli, who would succeed in assassinating
Anwar SadatAnwar Sadat that
October.[44]
According to Tala'at Qasim, ex-head of the Gama'a Islamiyya
interviewed in Middle East Report, it was not Islamic Jihad but his
organization, known in English as the "Islamic Group", that organized
the assassination and recruited the assassin (Islambouli). Members of
the Group's 'Majlis el-Shura' ('Consultative Council') – headed by
the famed 'blind shaykh' – were arrested two weeks before the
killing, but they did not disclose the existing plans and Islambouli
succeeded in assassinating Sadat.[45]
On 6 October 1981, Sadat was assassinated during the annual victory
parade held in
CairoCairo to celebrate Egypt's crossing of the Suez
Canal.[46] Islambouli emptied his assault rifle into Sadat's body
while in the front of the grandstand, mortally wounding the President.
In addition to Sadat, eleven others were killed, including the Cuban
ambassador, an Omani general, a
Coptic OrthodoxCoptic Orthodox bishop and Samir
Helmy, the head of Egypt's
Central Auditing Agency (CAA).[47][48]
Twenty-eight were wounded, including Vice President Hosni Mubarak,
Irish Defence Minister James Tully, and four US military liaison
officers.
The assassination squad was led by Lieutenant
Khalid Islambouli after
a fatwā approving the assassination had been obtained from Omar
Abdel-Rahman.[49] Islambouli was tried, found guilty, sentenced to
death, and executed by firing squad in April 1982.
Aftermath
Sadat was succeeded by his vice president Hosni Mubarak, whose hand
was injured during the attack. Sadat's funeral was attended by a
record number of dignitaries from around the world, including a rare
simultaneous attendance by three former US presidents: Gerald Ford,
Jimmy CarterJimmy Carter and Richard Nixon. Sudan's President
Gaafar NimeiryGaafar Nimeiry was
the only Arab head of state to attend the funeral. Only 3 of 24 states
in the Arab League—Oman, Somalia and Sudan—sent representatives at
all.[50] Israel's prime minister, Menachem Begin, considered Sadat a
personal friend and insisted on attending the funeral, walking
throughout the funeral procession so as not to desecrate the
Sabbath.[51] Sadat was buried in the unknown soldier memorial in
Cairo, across the street from the stand where he was assassinated.
Over three hundred Islamic radicals were indicted in the trial of
assassin Khalid Islambouli, including future al-Qaeda leader Ayman
al-Zawahiri, Omar Abdel-Rahman, and Abd al-Hamid Kishk. The trial was
covered by the international press and Zawahiri's knowledge of English
made him the de facto spokesman for the defendants. Zawahiri was
released from prison in 1984. Abboud al-Zomor and Tareq al-Zomor, two
Islamic Jihad leaders imprisoned in connection with the assassination,
were released on 11 March 2011.[52]
Despite these facts, the nephew of the late president, Talaat Sadat,
claimed that the assassination was an international conspiracy. On 31
October 2006, he was sentenced to a year in prison for defaming
Egypt's armed forces, less than a month after he gave the interview
accusing Egyptian generals of masterminding his uncle's assassination.
In an interview with a Saudi television channel, he also claimed both
the
United StatesUnited States and
IsraelIsrael were involved: "No one from the special
personal protection group of the late president fired a single shot
during the killing, and not one of them has been put on trial," he
said.[53]
Media portrayals of Anwar Sadat

In 1983, Sadat, a miniseries based on the life of Anwar Sadat, aired
on US television with Oscar-winning actor
Louis Gossett, Jr.Louis Gossett, Jr. in the
title role. The film was promptly banned by the Egyptian government,
as were all other movies produced and distributed by Columbia
Pictures, over allegations of historical inaccuracies. A civil lawsuit
was brought by Egypt's artists' and film unions against Columbia
Pictures and the film's directors, producers and scriptwriters before
a court in Cairo, but was dismissed, since the alleged slanders,
having taken place outside the country, fell outside the Egyptian
courts' jurisdiction.[54]
The film was critically acclaimed in America, but was unpopular among
Egyptians and in the Egyptian press. Western authors attributed the
film's poor reception in
EgyptEgypt to racism – Gossett being African
American – in the Egyptian government or
EgyptEgypt in general.[55]
Either way, one Western source wrote that Sadat's portrayal by Gossett
"bothered race-conscious Egyptians and wouldn't have pleased [the
deceased] Sadat," who identified as Egyptian and Northeast African,
not black or African American.[56] The two-part series earned Gossett
an Emmy nomination in the United States.
He was portrayed by
Robert LoggiaRobert Loggia in the 1982 television movie A Woman
Called Golda, opposite
Ingrid BergmanIngrid Bergman as Golda Meir.
The first Egyptian depiction of Sadat's life came in 2001, when Ayyam
El Sadat (English: Days of Sadat) was released in Egyptian cinemas.
This movie, by contrast, was a major success in Egypt, and was hailed
as Ahmed Zaki's greatest performance to date.[57]
The young Sadat is a major character in Ken Follett's thriller The Key
to Rebecca, taking place in World War II Cairo. Sadat, at the time a
young officer in the
Egyptian ArmyEgyptian Army and involved in anti-British
revolutionary activities, is presented quite sympathetically; his
willingness to cooperate with German spies is clearly shown to derive
from his wish to find allies against British domination of his
country, rather than from support of Nazi ideology. Some of the scenes
in the book, such as Sadat's arrest by the British, closely follow the
information provided in Sadat's own autobiography.
Sadat was a recurring character on Saturday Night Live, played by
Garrett Morris, who bore a resemblance to Sadat.
Honour
Foreign honour

Malaysia : Honorary Grand Commander of the Order of the
Defender of the Realm (1965)[58]

Official website (in Arabic)
Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Front Page
Ben-Gurion on
Anwar SadatAnwar Sadat Wanting Peace, 1971 Shapell Manuscript
Foundation
Anwar SadatAnwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development at the University of
Maryland
Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Medal of
Freedom – March 26, 1984
Anwar SadatAnwar Sadat on IMDb
"
Anwar SadatAnwar Sadat collected news and commentary". The New York Times.
Works by or about
Anwar SadatAnwar Sadat in libraries (
WorldCatWorldCat catalog)
Free Egyptians Point of View About Sadat's Assassination (in Arabic)
(in English) (Internet Archive)
The short film
Anwar SadatAnwar Sadat (1976) is available for free download at
the Internet Archive
Anwar SadatAnwar Sadat at Find a Grave
Sadat Movie (Produced in 1983) – Banned from the Middle East because
of some historical mistakes.

Political offices

Preceded by
Abdul Latif El-Bughadi
President of the People's Assembly of Egypt
1960–1968
Succeeded by
Dr. Mohamed Labib Skokeir